Happy Birthday, St. Petersburg!

Yesterday was St. Petersburg's 309th birthday, and there were all kind of celebrations.   (The city has a real birthday because there was actual moment when Peter the Great stood on a swampy, uninhabited island on the banks of the Neva River, and said, there will be a city here, and there was.)   The main street, Nevsky Prospect, was closed to traffic, and crowds ambled up and down the avenue.

Vera and Ada celebrating with their Russian flag.

There was also some kind of re-enactment of the Battle On the Ice between the Swedes and the Russians, complete with bits of Prokofiev's music from the film "Alexander Nevsky"   Even simulated cannon shots.

The building in the background above is across from the Winter Palace.  An interesting view inside the passage in the same building,  leading to the square.

We also saw the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, built to mark the spot of the assassination of Tsar Alexander in the 1880's.   Flamboyant Russian orthodox...  From the outside:

The interior is covered with mosaics and every kind of rare minerals and rocks.  The spot where the Tsar was killed:

More interiors:

One of the pleasures of St. Petersburg is just simply walking around, where every street corner reveals another astonishing vista.  In general, things are very well restored and maintained.  Women dress elegantly enough to outdo Vera, and the streets are full of life and energy.  I get a general impression of prosperity; whether that is really true I don't know.

Here is the view out the window from a Russian version of Starbucks (there are no real Starbucks here), to the Singer (as in sewing machine) Building on Nevsky Prospect.  The stuff in front has something to do with the birthday party.

In the evening, we went to the opera at the Mariinsky Theatre to hear "Boris Godunov", which was premiered in this very same theatre in 1874.   A beautiful old fashioned opera house, with great acoustics.    The production was a new one in the European style, updated to modern times.  The inn near the Lithuanian border was a strip club with neon signs and pole dancers, and Tsar Boris is escorted by security men with cell phones, etc.

Ada was pleased to see that the Tsarevitch slept in a bunk bed very much like her old Ikea one.  While the production does work in some spots, as when the people are pleading for help from their oppressive leader, the presence of monks doesn't really make a lot of sense and a lot is jarring with the real plot of the opera.   But, in any case, a stirring performance of the opera, well sung and played, with a genuine air of authenticity.

Oh, and the pre-opera dinner, Beef Stroganoff.    When in Russia...

And when the opera was over, at 11:00 PM, a beautiful walk home along the canals in bright daylight.   I haven't seen darkness since we got here.   There were fireworks on the way home (birthday), but they don't work quite as well in the daylight.   All this daylight, though, makes me want to see St. Petersburg in the winter, when it is dark and snow-covered.